Impartiality is one of the cornerstones of accreditation, and presents the basis for obtaining and maintaining the trust that is expected by all stakeholders. SA adheres to the requirements of SIST EN ISO/IEC 17011:2018 ‘Conformity assessment – Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies.’ The key priority is to ensure impartiality at all levels of SA operations.

Because of its public institution status SA is able to act with the necessary autonomy and impartiality. Likewise, SA enables all parties interested in the functioning of accreditation system in the Republic of Slovenia to take part in the management. In accordance with the relevant rules, SA ensures that all personnel engaged in accreditation perform these activities free of any commercial, financial or other pressures which might compromise impartiality.

SA does not engage in any activities which could compromise its impartiality. It does not provide consultancy to conformity assessment bodies, nor does it undertake any conformity assessment activities.

SA organizes training courses for conformity assessment bodies and occasionally for other public concerned. These seminars are confined to the provision of generic information that is freely available in the public domain. In addition, SA participates to a limited extent in international projects which aim to provide advisory services to other accreditation bodies provided this does not constitute any conflict of interest with SA’s role as the National Accreditation Body.

SA ensures that all conformity assessment bodies in the accreditation procedure receive equal treatment regardless of their size, legal status, prior accreditations or their membership of any association or group. SA enables all conformity assessment bodies whose accreditation applications fall within SA’s scope of activities to be included in the accreditation procedures.

The impartiality and objectivity of the accreditation services provided by SA is tightly controlled. All SA employees, individuals in SA bodies and professional bodies, assessors and externally contracted personnel engaged to perform particular assignments on behalf of SA, are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest. SA takes full regard of this information to ensure the objectivity of the services that it provides. Accreditation decisions are made by the SA Director upon recommendation of the assessor team and prior approval of the respective Accreditation Sector Manager.

SA incessantly evaluates potential risks to its impartiality using a number of mechanisms including internal audit, management review and consultation with appropriate interested parties. Based on the analysis of risks, SA takes appropriate measures to eliminate or minimise them.

In the event that customers or other stakeholders have concerns regarding the impartiality or objectivity of SA, SA has non-discriminatory procedures in place for handling complaints and appeals.